If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

QUESTIONS FOR HASBRO - round 92

Please post your VOTE for up to 2 {two} of the questions provided in this thread, letting us know which ones you most want to see asked on July 22nd. Keep in mind that your votes in round 91 do not count in this round, so if your question is still on the list you may want to vote for it again.

Also, feel free to suggest new questions, but please keep in mind that due to the now extra-limited nature of the program, we cannot use every suggestion.

Current questions (vote for up to 2):

- Force FX has entered a new phase with the removable blade series, and so far we've seen the first couple waves. Thanks to Clone Wars, female characters are back on the rise in Star Wars and bringing in more female collectors - Ahsoka especially has been selling very well. What does the future of Force FX look like? What are the chances of Ahsoka's lightsaber being added to the Force FX line, better opening that market up to female consumers and getting Clone Wars main character recognizability?

- You have this nice new Qui-Gon Jinn figure that came out in the Jedi Evolution set, and has been re-released in the nifty Eopie mail-away set, yet both times the figure has been marred by including the blobby 1999 lightsaber accessory. Luke Jedi keeps coming out with either repaints of the ROTS Obi-Wan's lightsabers (which has different details), or worse, the blobby Obi-Wan POTJ saber from 2000. Both the '99 Qui-Gon and '00 Obi-Wan as Luke Jedi sabers also have the old smooth blade design without the flare on top of their soft hilt sculpting, and both Qui-Gon and Luke Jedi actually had better saber accessories designed during the Saga line, yet we never get them. And what about one of the most iconic lightsabers in recent SW memory, Darth Maul? There is no modern-quality version at all, the closest is the '02 Saga metal hilt with removable blades, but the blades break easily, so we haven't seen it in a while, and it's a bit long. We don't have a deactivated one to hang on a belt, don't have a 1-blade-activated version, don't have a "cut in half" version, Maul is pretty lacking for his weapon. Why are we getting old junky saber accessories with the modern versions of these guys? Why aren't we seeing better, more accurate lightsaber accessories for some of these fairly major, recognizable Jedi characters? And will these issues be addressed soon?

- Vader's TIE Advanced X1 has been using the same POTF2 mold for over 13 years now, and the design is showing its age. The cockpit hatch is all wrong, the window is too small, the implementation of action gimmicks hurts the movie-accuracy and just aren't that fun, the cockpit isn't terribly accurate or sized that well to modern Vader figures, and the color is the blue-gray color of ESB and ROTJ rather than the proper gray color of ANH - the only film it was in. This is Vader's signature vehicle, it should at least live up to the quality of the other vehicles in the line, much less represent one of the brand's top characters - especially since the Hasbro SW team's vehicle designs have been so good lately too. What are the chances of seeing something done to address those issues on Vader's TIE Advanced X1 in the foreseeable future?

- A few years ago, we asked about the chance for updating the role-play Han Solo Blaster and Stormtrooper Blaster accessories, and your response was a not at that time because they weren't supported by then-current entertainment. The existing role-play Stormtrooper and Han blasters are molds from the late '70s, now technically 5 decades old. While they do have some pretty decent design for items from that era, compared to Hasbro's newer role-play blasters, they come up a bit lacking in accuracy and features. We don't expect all-black movie accuracy due to safety concerns, but on those 2, the seams are a bit uncomfortable to hold, the lights and sounds don't deliver all that effectively and don't rapid-fire nicely; and on the Stormtrooper blaster, the stock is still missing in action, and there's never been a clip. With ANH being re-released next year on Blu-Ray, and in theaters in a few years, it seems like there are going to be opportunities to deliver updated versions of those 2 iconic blasters in the role-play lineup, so is there any chance of seeing that happen?

- Sgt. Bric's initial cartoon outing turned out to be kind of a bust. The character was an unmemorable jerk and didn't really add anything to his storyline. In fact, if not for the action figure you guys did, he'd be a complete nobody in 2010. And on top of that, the postage on his set when it arrived in Los Angeles was a whopping $5.15, so after the cost of the box and the handling, just getting it out the door probably ate the entire $6.99 right there. Combine that with the fancy packaging and the battle mat, and the fact that he's 100% new tooling with some pricey-looking (for CW) paint, and it seems like Bric's quite an expensive promotional venture for Hasbro to have undertaken... all for a minor jerk of a character. What is it about Bric that made you choose him for a big Clone Wars mail-away promo figure?

- The new R5-D4 figure does not have the painted red panels on his back. That might sound like a minor issue, but the panels are clearly visible in the film when the droid's motivator blows up, and they help give the little guy a bit more visual pop. Neither the 1996 nor the 2006 versions of R5-D4 had these painted either, so it's disappointing to see that the third time is not the charm (though it remains a detail that the original vintage figure got right). Given the number of running changes we've seen so far in The Vintage Collection, is it at all possible that this oversight might be changed on future shipments?

- The Force FX lightsabers are targeted at adult collectibles, for a group who generally desire accuracy in their prop collectibles, and yet the latest ROTS Obi-Wan's lightsaber with removable blade suffers a big inaccuracy due to the blade needing to be securely anchored. However, with your removable-blade designs, you've started using dummy parts to fill in the removed blades, and we wonder if you'd consider for future thin-necked lightsabers like Luke ROTJ and Obi-Wan having the removable blade take the entire thick "neck" with it and having a more accurate thin-necked dummy design replace it. That much weight anchoring has been accomplished before in the thick metal coupler for the Maul saber halves that screwed together, on these thin-neck sabers the neck could screw down to the top part of the grip. That would let collectors have their cake and eat it too by giving an accurate hilt prop display with the thin neck, while still having the light-up blade play using the thick neck. So has there been any consideration for that sort of thing, and might it be seen in future Force FX sabers when needed?

- The plethora of white clones and sandtroopers that have shipped with every wave so far this year are having some problems getting out the doors of major retailers. Also, repainted clones such as Gree and the orange clone trooper do not seem to have the same problem building up on the pegs. A while back you told us that Hasbro bean counters were cracking down on running-change figures, but having different pauldron colors for the sandtrooper in different waves, and repainting the episode 2 (sergeant and officer colors) and episode 3 clones (many different units to choose from) in different color schemes for different waves would have almost definitely helped alleviate the oversupply/under demand problems for these figures. Please don't read this as us asking for more clones and sandtroopers as right now we do think it's overkill, but since recent and future waves still seem to be pushing these stalled figures, do you think the recent issues are enough to give the "no running changes" policy another look for troubled trooper figures?

- The 2009 Count Dooku with Speeder Bike figure featured a fabric cloak with a sculpted plastic clasp, meaning he had the free range of motion provided by the cloak with the accuracy of the clasp. This year though, instead of a plastic clasp, your TVC General Lando Calrissian figure has a thick elastic strap that doesn't really look anything like the fabric braid the character wore in the film; it seems like that is a case where a plastic clasp would have been preferable. The plastic clasp holding closed a fabric cloak solution could also be a possibility on future Darth Vader figures, or movie-based Count Dooku figures, or other figures where appropriate and the material allows it. Will the plastic-clasp-and-fabric approach be taken more in the future? Why wasn't it with TVC General Lando?